Wednesday, January 17, 2007
WooHoo! Swimming with the Manatees in Crystal River, FL
With the murky water, spotting the gentle giants wasn't easy. All of a sudden they would appear right beside or under us, wanting to be petted. Awesome to be swimming with wild creatures!
This dive boat below carried us to several locations looking for manatees. They really knew what they were doing. Sorry, no photos of the manatees yet.
Tuesday and Wednesday, January 16-17. By 9:00 this morning we were already in our wetsuits on a dive boat, in a diligent search for manatees. We had to be at the dive shop at 7:00 a.m. As it turns out, manatees are only active in the morning, so that’s why we were up-and-at-‘em, in the 60 degree morning weather. After checking out several springs with no luck, Mike, our terrific manatee guide, located two babies and a mama. And did we ever have fun in the water!
What sociable creatures they are. Big Mama was at least 8 or 9 feet long, and the year-old babies were around 5 to 6 feet long. We could rub them on their backs, bellies, and armpits, but not on their sensitive, whiskered faces or their tails. Their skin was rough and felt like a rubber tire. The manatees swam right up to or under each of us, wanting to make sure that every single person on the tour got their money’s worth – and we did. In a film before the tour, we learned that manatees eat the grasses on the sandy bottom, feeding about 8 hours a day to maintain their size. Mornings are their play time. They can’t tolerate cold waters, so that is why the 72-degree springs around here attract them from November through March.
What sociable creatures they are. Big Mama was at least 8 or 9 feet long, and the year-old babies were around 5 to 6 feet long. We could rub them on their backs, bellies, and armpits, but not on their sensitive, whiskered faces or their tails. Their skin was rough and felt like a rubber tire. The manatees swam right up to or under each of us, wanting to make sure that every single person on the tour got their money’s worth – and we did. In a film before the tour, we learned that manatees eat the grasses on the sandy bottom, feeding about 8 hours a day to maintain their size. Mornings are their play time. They can’t tolerate cold waters, so that is why the 72-degree springs around here attract them from November through March.
We did see some scars from boat propellers on Big Mama, but our guide said that being hit directly by the bow of a boat is much more devastating because it damages their huge lungs. The manatees thought we were lots of fun; in fact, they didn’t want us to leave. One of the Loopers made a short video of the two smaller manatees, who had followed tour guide Mike right to the boat. (Maybe he had carrot juice on his suit.) I will post a link to the video on Google when I figure out how to do that. It was certainly a memorable experience!
We were planning on leaving tomorrow, but the weather is not cooperating. It is supposed to be cool, windy, and foggy all day. We have rented a car tomorrow with Barbara and Walt from Cream Puff so we can do some grocery shopping and possibly drive to Homosassa Springs. If the weather improves, we plan to leave for Tarpon Springs on Friday morning.
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It WAS cool. I've got a short video on my computer, made by another lady, which you can see. She is posting it somewhere online, but she hasn't sent me the link. I didn't even take a camera since I wasn't awake when we left. Hee!
YEA!!! I forgot what Scott used as our sign in name for leaving comments, so now I have a gmail account and I can do it on my own!!! I have had fun reading about your journey - it sounds wonderful and reminds me of many childhood trips to Florida. We used to always see manatee and now it is rare. Such wonderful creatures. I'm glad that y'all got to swim with them (& a little jealous!) Scott is in Tallahassee right now. Gave his talk today and will give a more casual talk tomorrow. I can't wait to hear what he thinks. Talk to you soon!
Anne,
Have you ever been to Tarpon Springs? We are looking forward to scarfing down lots of Greek dishes and checking out the whole Greek culture scene here. I'll be eager to hear how Scott's trip to Tallahassee went too.
I hope we see more manatees. I love those animals. Now we can say we've swum with BOTH sharks AND manatees. Fearless, that's us! R-i-g-h-t!
Talk to you soon.
Liz
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Have you ever been to Tarpon Springs? We are looking forward to scarfing down lots of Greek dishes and checking out the whole Greek culture scene here. I'll be eager to hear how Scott's trip to Tallahassee went too.
I hope we see more manatees. I love those animals. Now we can say we've swum with BOTH sharks AND manatees. Fearless, that's us! R-i-g-h-t!
Talk to you soon.
Liz
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